16 year old shakes 15 year old’s hand, told to marry her or face assault charges

MEERUT: This defies logic, but here’s the newest case of Panchayat ‘moral’ policing. A boy who shook hands with a teenaged girl at his village near Bulandshahr, was ordered by the panchayat to marry the girl since he had touched her. When the boy refused, the girl’s family lodged a case of eve-teasing against him.

I6 year old Shoaib, who works in Gujarat, had recently come to his village to visit his family. On Friday, he happened to meet the girl, who was his classmate, and shook hands with her.They were spotted by the girl’s father and uncle. The two men, in anger, summoned other villagers, who decided that a panchayat be constituted. The panchayat decided that the teenagers should get married since they had held hands.

On hearing the ‘judgement’, the boy and his family were reportedly stunned. “We could not believe our ears that the panchayat could issue such an order just because the two children held hands,” said one of Shoaib’s relatives. Matters did not stop at that. When the boy’s family refused to accept this illogical diktat, the girl’s family approached the police and lodged an FIR against the boy accusing him of eve-teasing and physical assault.

Meanwhile, Kunvar Anupam Singh, station officer, Khurja, told a local newspaper that the case pertains to minors, therefore there is no question of any nikah (wedding) taking place. “The girl is 15-year-old, and the boy is 16. Although we have registered a case of eve-teasing, we will be proceeding with action against the boy only after the girl’s statement is recorded before the magistrate.”